The Graduate, Part 9

Part 9: Reunion

Karries car pulled into the public library at exactly 10:00 p.m. The library
was open until 11:00 on weeknights. She hurried through to the computer lab
and signed up to use on of the available machines. The library was virtually
empty at this time of night. The only sound now was Karrie pecking at the
computer keyboard and clicking her mouse.

She opened a new browser window and typed in the URL for Hotmail. She quickly
signed up for a new account, oldfriend_in_MT@hotmail.com, and started to
compose a new email.

Hello, I'm not even sure if you'll get this. I know you told me never to
contact you again, and I respect that. However, I'm in a horrible jam and
need your advice or assistance. This is urgent and serious.

This email account is brand new and secure. I'm accessing the net from the
library and will only check this account from here. Reply and I can fill you
in on the details if you wish. If not, I wish you the best and hope that you
hold me in your prayers.

I'll be forever in your debt if you can help me out.

Your lifelong friend, Karrie.


Karrie sent the message and then cleared the computers' history and cache.
She signed out on the appropriate sheet and quickly left the library. 

Karrie drove around town blindly for a while, trying to piece everything
together. She chain-smoked as she drove circles around the town. It was
obvious to her now that Ashley and Bill had somehow gotten together long
before Joyce and Bill had and was now sure their relationship was somehow
responsible for Bills divorce. Ashley's contacting her on graduation day also
was no coincidence. Ashley was probably looking for ways to get even and saw
a giant opportunity when Karrie opened up about the loss of her college
money. Things just progressed from there. She was dealing with someone who
was spiteful indeed and getting meaner by the day.

Karrie parked in the mall parking lot finally at 11:00 p.m. She removed the
receiver from the laptop and then booted the computer up again. Once it
loaded, she removed the X10 program from the laptop. She poured through the
registry and removed any references to it there, and verified there were no
folders left in the Program Files directory. When that was complete, she ran
a defrag on the hard drive.

As the computer hard drive whirred and churned, she contemplated her next
plans.

Karrie saw her choices as this: Drop the whole thing. Cut all ties to Ashley
and somehow get her mother to get rid of Bill.

Knowing the real Ashley however, she knew Ashley wouldn't drop this so easy
and probably make life even worse for her. 

Her mind was made up now and she managed a smile. She closed the laptop lid
and lit another cigarette and spoke aloud to herself, "Please Bonnie, please
reply to the message."


Karrie and Ashley spoke briefly on the phone the next day. Ashley told Karrie
that Bill was more than willing to front some cash for their project and that
he didn't suspect a thing. Karrie assured Ashley that things were progressing
on her side as well, and it would be a few days before she had some firm
dates. 

When they hung up, it was 10:30. Karrie was scheduled to work at noon, so she
had to hurry. She rushed to Bills apartment complex and let herself in one
last time. She retrieved the hidden cameras and left as quickly as she had
entered. Her next stop was the library.

Karrie nervously typed in her new account and password and waited for the
Inbox to load. She was rewarded with two new messages. One from Hotmail
welcoming her and another was a reply from Bonnie Kelly. She clicked the
message and read quickly.

Karrie, So good to hear from you. Sorry to hear things aren't going well for
you. I'm willing to help, but for a price. That price you'll find out about
later, and will be determined by what type of help your asking for.

You may reply to me this one time only. So be clear and concise about who and
what we're dealing with here. Be specific and detailed about what action
you'd like taken.

If I chose to help you, it will happen within the time frame you specify.
You'll be aware of the results. If I chose not to help you, you'll know as
well as nothing will have occurred.

Wishing you the best always, Bonnie


Karries heart raced and she looked at her watch. She clicked the reply button
and quickly began to type out the details of her request. She jotted them
down on a piece of paper as well so she could finalize the plans with Ashley. 

Fifteen minutes later, she clicked the send button and repeated her safety
procedures as before.

Ashley visited Karrie at work that evening. Karrie took a break and the two
of them went outside the store and had a cigarette. 

"So it goes down in two nights?" Ashley asked through an exhale.

Karrie nodded as she drew. She caressed Ashley's leg as she exhaled. "Yeah,
the guy has the stuff in and he needs the cash pronto or he's in deep shit."

"Bill's got the cash?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, he showed it to me the other day. Looks like a shit load of money."
Ashley paused to draw again. "I can't wait till this is all over and we can
stop playing these games," Ashley added.

"Me too Ashley, me too." Karrie replied. "I just want to get on with
everything as normal, and focus on you and me... Do you think we have a
future, or is this just a phase?" she asked trying to sound sincere.

It was Ashley's turn to lie. "I don't see why not. I'm proud of us, I love
you Karrie..." she said looking away.

Karrie knew Ashley's sincerity was shit and it amused her. She wasn't going
to miss Ashley much at all if things progressed.

They agreed not to have contact again until the night of the meet. Karrie
would arrive with her person, and Bill and Ashley would arrive with the
money. The exchange would be made and everyone would go their separate ways,
happy campers.

They stood and crushed out their cigarettes. Ashley held out a hand and
Karrie took it.

"See ya soon..." she said and began to pull away.

Karrie pulled her close instead and kissed her full on the lips. Neither
woman closed their eyes and Karries stare shocked Ashley. Ashley pulled away
abruptly and wiped the kiss off.

"That was weird," she said as she backed up from Karrie slowly.

"Good bye Ashley..." was all Karrie said, and she turned and went back to
work.



Karrie and her mother were awakened on Saturday morning by the ring of the
doorbell. It was early and they both met in the hallway, looking surprised.
Karries nerves were suddenly on fire. Joyce was in a bathrobe and Karrie
stood in a long nightshirt. Karrie followed Joyce down the stairs to the
front door.

Joyce opened the door and found two men in suits, both holding police badges.
Karries heart jumped into her throat and she turned to get a cigarette from
her pack off of the table. Joyce invited the two men in as Karrie approached
them, trailing a cloud of smoke.

The four of them sat around the table and the taller of the men told them
what had transpired the night before. Joyce and Karrie both broke into
hysterical tears as the officers told them about the events that occurred the
night before. Two victims, Bill Cunningham and Ashley McMann, were found dead
both of gun shot wounds to the head. Bills suburban had been found in the
warehouse district by a cruiser on routine patrol. When inspected, the
officer found both bodies in the car. All preliminary evidence suggested a
murder suicide.

The officers patiently waited for Joyce and Karrie to calm down. The shorter
finally interrupted and stated that early investigation revealed that the
victims were linked to both Karrie and Joyce. Joyce and Karrie both explained
their relationships with Bill and Ashley. They were both asked about their
whereabouts of the previous night as well. Karrie stated she was working at
the video store till midnight, and then came straight home. Joyce supported
her statement saying she heard her come in at 12:15. Joyce had been home all
night and said she made several phone calls during the evening.

The officers jotted down notes in their notebooks. They nodded in agreement
and were very polite and courteous. When they were finished, they assured
Joyce and Karrie that they were just doing routine follow-ups and that the
case seemed very cut and dry. They finally offered their condolences and
wished them the best.

Karrie and Joyce fell apart when they left. They sobbed in each others arms
for most of the day and asked each other question after question. Neither
knowing how or why something like this could have occurred.


Since they weren't directly family members, neither Karrie or Joyce were
contacted again with details of the incident. The papers reported that
ballistics tests confirmed that the weapon used, and retrieved at the scene
was registered to Bill Cunningham. A single gunshot wound to the left side of
Ashley's head was fired at point blank range. A single shot to Bills head was
at an angle under his chin. Bill Cunningham's finger prints were the only
ones found on the weapon. Toxicology reports from the State Crime Lab showed
traces of cocaine in both of the victim's bodies.


Epilogue: Karrie and Joyce survived the trauma that rocked the small
community. Neither were investigated as potential suspects and the case was
quickly closed as a murder suicide.

Karrie continued to work at the video store for the next 6 months. She resold
the camera set on Ebay for a small loss. She worked hard and applied for
several student loans and eventually got enough funding to begin college
winter semester. Two weeks after she arrived, she found a package in her mail
slot in the dorm, post marked from Las Vegas, with no return address.

She returned to her dorm room and lit a cigarette. She cut open the package.
Inside was a note and a key which looked like a locker key for an airport
terminal. She sat the key aside and began to read, stunned.

Dearest Karrie, Hope this note finds you well. I'm glad to see you've finally
made your way to college. I know the past few months have been rough on you,
but you seem to have faired well.

I hope you were pleased with the outcome of your request. To help ease your
financial burden please use the contents of the locker at your very private
discretion. You'll find the locker at the bus station down town. Don't
hesitate to retrieve the contents as the lockers are routinely checked and
cleaned out.

A final reminder. You agreed to paying a price for the request. If I never
need your assistance, I won't hesitate to call upon you. It would be wise to
do as your asked when the time comes.

Your forever mine,

Bonnie

The handwritten note was sealed with a kiss of crimson lipstick.

Karrie crushed out her cigarette and held the note over the garbage can. She
lit a corner of it with her lighter and dropped it, watching it burn. As the
note slowly smoldered, Karrie emptied her backpack and pocketed the key. She
headed out the door to the bike rack which held her mountain bike. 

She had a package to pick up at the bus station.



**** Authors note: Phew! I'm sooo glad to be done with this story. I'm not so
sure I like it. It feels like I rushed it a bit, but your the ultimate judge.
I had so many requests from all of you to somehow continue the story of
Karrie and Ashley. I pondered ideas for months and then finally came up with
this. I'm no mystery writer, as you can probably tell. I tried to keep some
of the same sensual and dark elements as the first story with some twists.

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated and was instrumental in the
creation of this story. The potential for another meeting with Bonnie and
Karrie is now endless... send me your ideas!  Your emails are always welcome.
karriejj@hotmail.com

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